Recyling toothbrushes, toothpaste takes some work

Getting a green smile takes some work. No, it doesn't mean forgetting to brush your teeth for months on end. Instead, you need to find ways to recycle your toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes — something that is easier said than done. The city of San Diego, for instance, doesn't accept either of those items in its recycling bins. Neither does Waste Management, which is in charge of trash collection and recycling programs in several cities around the county such as El Cajon, Carlsbad and Solana Beach.

The good news is there are some companies that will do the recycling work for you — with the help of the Postal Service, that is.

Take Preserve, a maker of a whole slew of recyclable and recycled plastic products from plates to, you guessed it, toothbrushes. Simply buy a Preserve toothbrush, which is available at stores like Henry's Farmers Market and Whole Foods. When you are done, mail it back to Preserve, which will pay for the postage for toothbrushes under 13 ounces. You can download a postage-paid label by going to the company's Web site at
preserveproducts.com/index.html
and clicking on the “recycling information” section. The company takes the used toothbrushes and turns them into plastic lumber for picnic tables, boardwalks and decks.

You might also want to consider buying a toothbrush made by Radius, which makes its handles out of cellulose that comes from sustainable-yield forests. The Pennsylvania company also has a battery-operated model called its Intelligent Model that uses reusable heads as a way to cut down on the amount of waste. The company will even recycle the battery-operated handle once it runs out of power. To find out more, go to
radiustoothbrush.com
.

When it comes to toothpaste tubes, there aren't many options. Waste Management may take the hard plastic stand-up kind of toothpaste dispenser if it has a recycling symbol on it, says Charissa McAfee, the company's manager of customer experience. The city of San Diego does not take any kind of toothpaste dispenser, and most cities will not accept roll-up toothpaste tubes. If you are intent on recycling your toothpaste container, you might want to think about using Tom's of Maine toothpaste because you can send your tubes back to the company for recycling. On its Web site,
tomsofmaine.com
, it asks you to “save up a bunch” and then send them directly to Tom's of Maine, Consumer Dialogue Team, 302 Lafayette Center, Kennebunk, ME 04043.